Organizations and Contributors

The American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (ACVB) is the certifying board for veterinarians who are specialty trained to advance the behavioral health of animals through clinical practice, research, and science-based behavior education. Board-certified specialists are known as Diplomates.

Veterinary behaviorists are trained to address the relationships between an animal’s health, environment, experiences and its behavior. They have extensive knowledge of psychotropic medications, their uses, potential side effects and interactions with other medications, and are licensed to prescribe them when indicated.

The ASPCA® (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) has been at the forefront of animal rescue and protection since our founding as the first animal welfare organization in North America in 1866. For more than 150 years, we have been the leading voice in animal welfare, bringing the critical protection of animals to the forefront of society.

The AVMA is the nation's leading advocate for the veterinary profession. Representing more than 108,000 members, we protect, promote and advance the needs of all veterinarians and those they serve.

We are a group of Veterinarians, Veterinary Technicians, and Graduate Degree level Animal Behaviorists dedicated to improving the lives of animals and people through an understanding of animal behavior.

AVSAB’s mission is to share accurate, science-based education and information to their membership. AVSAB also periodically publishes membership consensus position statements to share with the entire veterinary profession and to the public on common behavior controversies and practices.

AVSAB is committed to improving the quality of life of all animals and strengthening the bond between animals and their caregivers.

The Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) is an international organization for dog trainers, boasting over 4,800 members across more than 40 countries. APDT provides educational resources, including continuing education courses, webinars, and a book club, but is not a certifying agency. They collaborated with CCPDT and IAABC to establish a Code of Ethics and LIMA policy for ethical dog training practices. The organization hosts an annual conference and primarily focuses on education and community building.

CATalyst Council, a non-profit entity, was created to connect three distinct groups: Veterinary Medicine, Shelter/Animal Welfare, and related Industry entities such as Foundations and Cat Fanciers, the Media, and commercial companies. By virtue of the open and inclusive structure of the board, these bodies are able to represent a broad range of diverse stakeholders in feline healthcare and welfare. Working together, the Council intends to make a difference in the way the United States experiences and values cats.

The Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers® (CCPDT®), established in 2001, is the leading independent certifying organization for the dog training profession. The CCPDT is the leader in the development of rigorous exams to demonstrate mastery of humane, science-based dog training practices. Thousands of dog training professionals worldwide maintain the CCPDT’s certifications as a mark of high professional distinction.

I completed my Ph.D. in Psychology, with an emphasis on animal behavior and cognition, at UC Berkeley in 2017. I worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis for 3.5 years, where I researched the social behavior of domestic cats and the development of orphaned neonatal kittens.

My research has been published in Psychological Bulletin, the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, Royal Society Open Science, Applied Animal Behaviour Science, the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare, the Journal of Comparative Psychology, Anthrozoos, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 

I am author of the book “Play with Your Cat!” (2024 – Tarcher/Perigee), and co-author with Jackson Galaxy of “Total Cat Mojo.”

The Enrichment for the Real World podcast  is produced by Pet Harmony Animal Behavior and Training, founded by Allie Bender and Emily Strong. 
Allie is a certified dog behavior consultant (CDBC) through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, certified professional dog trainer–knowledge assessed (CPDT-KA), a shelter behavior affiliate (SBA) through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants, and an Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT) Canine Life and Social Skills (C.L.A.S.S.) evaluator, and is certified by TAGteach at the primary level.
Emily has been working and volunteering in various animal welfare fields since 1990, including several different shelters and rescue groups; as a vet tech in a wide variety of animal hospitals; in stables, aviaries, and wildlife rehabs; as a pet sitter for animals with medical and behavioral special needs; as a freelance journalist and editor; and finally, as a behavior consultant.

Justine, a certified trainer and the owner and founder of The Family Dog, originated her Dial Method of dog training for families raising dogs and kids together. Since then, she has adapted the program for pet parents with or without children and has spoken internationally at pet professional conferences and gatherings of committed pet parents.

The Feline Veterinary Medical Association (FelineVMA) supports its members in improving the health and wellbeing of cats through high standards of practice, continuing education, and evidence-based medicine.

Ingrid has worked exclusively with cat's and cat behavior problems since 1999

Since 1958 International Cat Care (iCatCare) has been advancing the welfare of cats by challenging the status quo, sharing research and knowledge on all things cats, while ensuring the most informed feline subject matter authorities from across the world are part of our expert panels and are driving forward change with us. We believe in a world where every cat’s life is as good as it can be.

For as long as she can remember,  Tabitha has had a strong connection with animals and knew that she wanted to work with them in her professional and personal life.  She began to teach herself about behavior through continuing education, workshops, speaking to experts, completing her Low Stress Handling and Elite Fear Free Certifications, obtaining her KPA-CTP through the Karen Pryor Academy, and became a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant through the IAABC. She has also received her Veterinary Technician Specialist in Behavior Designation. She is one of only 30 in the world currently!

Tabitha enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge and experience to help clients resolve, manage, and prevent many types of dog and cat behavior issues and offers educational lectures and workshops to the general public, veterinary professionals, training, and shelter professionals. 

Emily Larlham runs the dog training business Dogmantics Dog Training in San Diego, California. She is known around the world for her popular Youtube Channel ‘Kikopup’ where she has posted over 400 free in-depth dog training tutorials. She has been invited to conduct seminars on her techniques for training dogs without intimidation in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. She has also spoken at conferences such as the PPG Summit, Clicker Expo, Clicker Expo Europe, APDT, APDT Australia and the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference.

Dr. Colleen S. Koch is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine and graduated in 1990. She joined the Lincoln Land Animal Clinic team in 2001 practicing both small and large animal (primarily equine) medicine. Dr. Colleen is now one of 100 board certified veterinary behaviorists in the world, and one of only three veterinary behaviorists seeing clinical cases in Illinois. 

Dr. Colleen continues to dedicate herself to the animal behavior field. In addition to helping people with their pets, she mentors a veterinary behavior resident and often serves as a preceptor for veterinary students. She is a nationally recognized speaker and continues to promote the human-animal bond as she guides pet owners through some of the more challenging aspects of pet ownership. 

Chirag is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and Pet Behaviour Counsellor working in the UK. He is the manager for The Training and Behaviour Centre at Dr Roger Mugfords Company of Animals. He also runs Domesticated Manners Pet Training and Behaviour. He holds a BSc (Hons) Degree in Veterinary Sciences from the Royal Veterinary College and is currently studying for a Masters in Clinical Animal Behaviour.Chirag has and does work with a variety of animal species including dogs, cats, horses, parrots, rats, degus, tortoise and many more. 

Our mission is to help make every pet a cherished family member and improve the relationship and the quality of life people share with their pets by:

• Providing the greatest value and highest quality, state-of-the-art, force-free, science-based pet training and pet care for each client.
• Always demonstrating integrity, compassion, and an uncompromising commitment to excellence in the care and support of clients and their pets.
• Continually expanding our knowledge and improving our skills to serve our clients as a valuable resource, providing the most innovative pet training and pet care possible.

The mission of the Shelter Playgroup Alliance (SPA) is to provide animal welfare organizations with education, tailorable guidelines, and support materials for developing and implementing comprehensive enrichment programs.  These programs focus on healthy inter-dog interactions, including playgroups, that align to the Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive ethical standard (LIMA). LIMA-based playgroups are devoted to providing dogs with opportunities to consent, physical and mental safety, and avoid the use of aversives.

Michael is sought after for his expert opinion by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, New York Post, Fox News, The List TV, Baltimore Sun, WebMD, Women’s Health Magazine, Real Simple Magazine, and SiriusXM Radio. He also hosts the popular podcast show “The Bitey End of the Dog” where he chats with the foremost experts on dog aggression.

He is a featured keynote speaker at conferences, universities, and seminars around the world, and offers a variety of educational opportunities on the topic of canine aggression, including the Aggression in Dogs Master Course and the annual Aggression in Dogs Conference.

In 2001, Grisha Stewart founded Ahimsa Dog Training, which grew to be Seattle's largest and most popular dog training company. "Ahimsa" is a Buddhist doctrine of nonviolence to all living beings, which reflects Grisha's focus on more collaborative methods to promote the well-being of dogs and their humans. Her seminal book, "Behavior Adjustment Training: BAT for Aggression, Reactivity, and Fear in Dogs," was published by Dogwise in late 2011.
Canine behavior fascinates Grisha and she is highly motivated to help improve industry standards for rehabilitating and training dogs. Her professional interest in dog reactivity, along with the need to find an efficient rehabilitation technique that would work with her own dog's fear issues, led Grisha to develop BAT.

This webinar was produced by Transform Behavior (formerly the Calm Canine Academy) and reproduced with their permission for this platform. 

To learn more about them, check out their website.

The Veterinary Behavior Institute is the brainchild of Dr. Ariel Fagen DVM, DACVB. We are committed to collecting, creating, and disseminating science-forward information on animal behavior to pet parents and professionals alike.